Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns
is one of the most well known comic
books of all time it shattered the kepi
aesthetic of the 1960s TV show and
reshaped the tone of the caped crusader
into a much darker interpretation
arguably making it the most influential
and important Batman story ever put to
page but the bleak world that Batman
inhabits and the brutal means by which
he achieves victory have raised a very
troubling question with some readers
because Frank Miller’s Batman a fascist
Oh before we go on be sure to check out
our magazine of the best comic books of
the 1980s first a disclaimer we love
this book
we love Batman and Miller is a genius of
the medium those are objective truths
but to love and appreciate a masterwork
of art doesn’t mean that you have to
reject constructive criticism or
uncomfortable truths about that work
we’re also explicitly not saying that
Batman or Frank Miller for that matter
is a Nazi or a racist as much as people
confuse the two terms in case you’re not
in the know the Dark Knight Returns sees
an aging Batman come out of retirement
to combat a new gang that’s been
terrorizing Gotham his return to the
scene soon provokes a comeback from some
of his oldest adversaries which
eventually leads to Dark Knight into a
direct conflict with the government of
the United States and even Superman
himself plot elements aside you’ll
quickly see how this version of Batman
continues to influence almost all major
interpretations of the character that
came afterwards from Burton to Nolan the
batfleck
lays it out going those of you who are
familiar with the book might be thinking
to yourself what the hell are you
talking about dude
Batman literally bites a woman with
swastikas on her breasts Superman’s the
fascist in this story well there’s
probably a case for that too but for the
purpose of this video we’ll be focusing
on the Beeman now in order to decide
whether Miller’s Batman is or isn’t the
F word will first need a definition this
is going to be the trickiest part even
the Wikipedia entry on fascism states
historians political scientists and
other scholars have engaged in long and
furious debates concerning the exact
nature of fascism and its core tenets
George Orwell once wrote the word
fascism is almost entirely meaningless
almost any English person would accept
bully as a synonym for fascist Wow
great start when asked about this
himself Miller told The Hollywood
Reporter that anyone who thinks Batman
was a fascist should study their
politics the fascists tell people how to
live Batman just tells criminals to stop
well that doesn’t help either okay
for the sake of defining our terms the
fascism we’re talking about here is the
one that respects a single Authority
demands adherence to a set of rules or
laws laid out by said Authority as a
strong concept of the other or the enemy
and whose use of violence is viewed as a
necessary solution if not the only
solution perhaps most importantly the
figurehead that can save you can’t
follow the normal set of rules that are
in place because those rules would stop
them from doing what must be done and
emboldened their enemies in Matthew
Rey’s essay for thought box on this very
topic he explains to build a heroic
fascist you need to establish a world
where fascism is the only answer the
idea here is that Miller has created a
Gotham that needs Batman’s personal
brand of justice the fat man is indeed a
fascist it’s only because Gotham needed
him to be there’s no other choice so
let’s play long what kind of world would
need fascism
using Rhea’s sa is a framework let’s go
through why this applies to Miller’s
Gotham point five point one the
criminals have no motive
despite the family paying the ransom the
mutants still took the boy’s life slice
and dice the mutants and later the Joker
have no real motive other than violence
for the sake of violence these are not
use driven to crime because of
socio-economic conditions and bad public
schools
no no they’re evil because they’re evil
and they like it then later in the story
when Batman humiliates their leader what
do they do step in line and become the
Dark Knight’s personal army don’t you
see the kids are always going to act out
so you need a strong leader to show them
who’s boss and point that energy in the
right direction the mutants are dead
this is the new face of the law too
liberal thinking and compassion will get
you killed you have to remember this man
isn’t responsible for those killings
there’s one character who thinks that
criminals are not to blame for their
actions the psychologist dr. Wolper who
cures two-faced and the Joker he sees
the provocation from Batman to be the
main cause of their problems in his view
criminals themselves are victims of
their environment and of what he calls a
fascist aggressor yeah he’s the one
character in the book who actually
called Batman a fascist and where does
this get it oh yeah in this world the
Liberals would have you set the Joker
free and lock up Batman you’d have to be
crazy to listen to them 3 the current
politicians a weak and ineffective and
so is the law I have to resolve this
that’s what couples say politicians
aren’t really much of a help in this
world either Reagan basically fails to
stop a nuclear war and what about the
mayor of Gotham well he tries to
negotiate with the mutant leader and
gets his throat ripped out
once again feeding into the you can’t
reason with these people mentality
the new Police Commissioner is also
obsessed with catching Batman instead of
the real criminals working against the
one person that could potentially save
the city four people are inherently
it seems like Bruce Wayne is basically
the only good person in Gotham early in
the story the guy pushes a man on
crutches into the subway because he’s
too dumb and afraid to nobec later when
the power goes out during the climax
Batman’s gang is the one to restore
order if it weren’t for his influence
Gotham would tear itself apart and would
have burnt to the ground now it’s just
going to get knocked around the people
may not like it but we know it’s for
their own good
this society has to be saved from itself
what is this the Gestapo he lumps us
together with criminals now
so in this cynical world Gotham needs
Batman’s authority
besides forget what the old law says
because as bee man tells it I am the law
in the context of the story anyone who
disagrees is either ignorant or evil
pretty dick toriel thinking no tonight I
am the law okay but so what
Gotham is in a real place this is a
comic book this depiction of Gotham is
designed to be as bad as possible
because the story needs a struggle for
Batman to overcome that’s definitely
true but it’s also important to
contextualize the environment in which
Miller wrote the Dark Knight Returns New
York in the 1980s this was a rough place
Miller himself was apparently mugged
several times while living the murder
rate was through the roof especially
when compared to what it’s like today
meanwhile the Cold War was still hot on
everyone’s mind and Ronald Reagan was in
the White House which is exactly what’s
happening in the comics so you can’t say
Miller’s world doesn’t reflect the real
one at least a little the parallels are
right there again we understand that
this is a comic book set in a fictional
city it’s a made-up environment for
Batman so of course it’s going to be
unimaginably bad no need to read too far
into things right
then again why would a Batman story
include President Reagan and the Cold
War is not for a bit of social
commentary you owe me that Batman that’s
a matter for the state level and they’ve
got a solid clear-headed governor there
yes they do check out these other great
clips from WatchMojo and
for new videos every day
is one of the most well known comic
books of all time it shattered the kepi
aesthetic of the 1960s TV show and
reshaped the tone of the caped crusader
into a much darker interpretation
arguably making it the most influential
and important Batman story ever put to
page but the bleak world that Batman
inhabits and the brutal means by which
he achieves victory have raised a very
troubling question with some readers
because Frank Miller’s Batman a fascist
Oh before we go on be sure to check out
our magazine of the best comic books of
the 1980s first a disclaimer we love
this book
we love Batman and Miller is a genius of
the medium those are objective truths
but to love and appreciate a masterwork
of art doesn’t mean that you have to
reject constructive criticism or
uncomfortable truths about that work
we’re also explicitly not saying that
Batman or Frank Miller for that matter
is a Nazi or a racist as much as people
confuse the two terms in case you’re not
in the know the Dark Knight Returns sees
an aging Batman come out of retirement
to combat a new gang that’s been
terrorizing Gotham his return to the
scene soon provokes a comeback from some
of his oldest adversaries which
eventually leads to Dark Knight into a
direct conflict with the government of
the United States and even Superman
himself plot elements aside you’ll
quickly see how this version of Batman
continues to influence almost all major
interpretations of the character that
came afterwards from Burton to Nolan the
batfleck
lays it out going those of you who are
familiar with the book might be thinking
to yourself what the hell are you
talking about dude
Batman literally bites a woman with
swastikas on her breasts Superman’s the
fascist in this story well there’s
probably a case for that too but for the
purpose of this video we’ll be focusing
on the Beeman now in order to decide
whether Miller’s Batman is or isn’t the
F word will first need a definition this
is going to be the trickiest part even
the Wikipedia entry on fascism states
historians political scientists and
other scholars have engaged in long and
furious debates concerning the exact
nature of fascism and its core tenets
George Orwell once wrote the word
fascism is almost entirely meaningless
almost any English person would accept
bully as a synonym for fascist Wow
great start when asked about this
himself Miller told The Hollywood
Reporter that anyone who thinks Batman
was a fascist should study their
politics the fascists tell people how to
live Batman just tells criminals to stop
well that doesn’t help either okay
for the sake of defining our terms the
fascism we’re talking about here is the
one that respects a single Authority
demands adherence to a set of rules or
laws laid out by said Authority as a
strong concept of the other or the enemy
and whose use of violence is viewed as a
necessary solution if not the only
solution perhaps most importantly the
figurehead that can save you can’t
follow the normal set of rules that are
in place because those rules would stop
them from doing what must be done and
emboldened their enemies in Matthew
Rey’s essay for thought box on this very
topic he explains to build a heroic
fascist you need to establish a world
where fascism is the only answer the
idea here is that Miller has created a
Gotham that needs Batman’s personal
brand of justice the fat man is indeed a
fascist it’s only because Gotham needed
him to be there’s no other choice so
let’s play long what kind of world would
need fascism
using Rhea’s sa is a framework let’s go
through why this applies to Miller’s
Gotham point five point one the
criminals have no motive
despite the family paying the ransom the
mutants still took the boy’s life slice
and dice the mutants and later the Joker
have no real motive other than violence
for the sake of violence these are not
use driven to crime because of
socio-economic conditions and bad public
schools
no no they’re evil because they’re evil
and they like it then later in the story
when Batman humiliates their leader what
do they do step in line and become the
Dark Knight’s personal army don’t you
see the kids are always going to act out
so you need a strong leader to show them
who’s boss and point that energy in the
right direction the mutants are dead
this is the new face of the law too
liberal thinking and compassion will get
you killed you have to remember this man
isn’t responsible for those killings
there’s one character who thinks that
criminals are not to blame for their
actions the psychologist dr. Wolper who
cures two-faced and the Joker he sees
the provocation from Batman to be the
main cause of their problems in his view
criminals themselves are victims of
their environment and of what he calls a
fascist aggressor yeah he’s the one
character in the book who actually
called Batman a fascist and where does
this get it oh yeah in this world the
Liberals would have you set the Joker
free and lock up Batman you’d have to be
crazy to listen to them 3 the current
politicians a weak and ineffective and
so is the law I have to resolve this
that’s what couples say politicians
aren’t really much of a help in this
world either Reagan basically fails to
stop a nuclear war and what about the
mayor of Gotham well he tries to
negotiate with the mutant leader and
gets his throat ripped out
once again feeding into the you can’t
reason with these people mentality
the new Police Commissioner is also
obsessed with catching Batman instead of
the real criminals working against the
one person that could potentially save
the city four people are inherently
it seems like Bruce Wayne is basically
the only good person in Gotham early in
the story the guy pushes a man on
crutches into the subway because he’s
too dumb and afraid to nobec later when
the power goes out during the climax
Batman’s gang is the one to restore
order if it weren’t for his influence
Gotham would tear itself apart and would
have burnt to the ground now it’s just
going to get knocked around the people
may not like it but we know it’s for
their own good
this society has to be saved from itself
what is this the Gestapo he lumps us
together with criminals now
so in this cynical world Gotham needs
Batman’s authority
besides forget what the old law says
because as bee man tells it I am the law
in the context of the story anyone who
disagrees is either ignorant or evil
pretty dick toriel thinking no tonight I
am the law okay but so what
Gotham is in a real place this is a
comic book this depiction of Gotham is
designed to be as bad as possible
because the story needs a struggle for
Batman to overcome that’s definitely
true but it’s also important to
contextualize the environment in which
Miller wrote the Dark Knight Returns New
York in the 1980s this was a rough place
Miller himself was apparently mugged
several times while living the murder
rate was through the roof especially
when compared to what it’s like today
meanwhile the Cold War was still hot on
everyone’s mind and Ronald Reagan was in
the White House which is exactly what’s
happening in the comics so you can’t say
Miller’s world doesn’t reflect the real
one at least a little the parallels are
right there again we understand that
this is a comic book set in a fictional
city it’s a made-up environment for
Batman so of course it’s going to be
unimaginably bad no need to read too far
into things right
then again why would a Batman story
include President Reagan and the Cold
War is not for a bit of social
commentary you owe me that Batman that’s
a matter for the state level and they’ve
got a solid clear-headed governor there
yes they do check out these other great
clips from WatchMojo and
for new videos every day
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